Time
by CrashAffect
Summary: “It was 3:37 AM when Matt realized that morning was never going to come.” Mello’s been hurt, badly, but the internet assures Matt the blonde will be fine if he can make it through the night.


**Time**

Summary:_ "It was 3:37 AM when Matt realized that morning was never going to come." Mello's been hurt, badly, but the internet assures Matt the blonde will be fine if he can make it through the night._

Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeello there. Um. Well, I woke up this morning to discover a story I was definitely only halfway done with yesterday was not only written, but online. So I read it. And then changed it. And now you get this.

I _am_ still looking for an alternate title. And feel free to tell me about anything in this story that makes you mad. Or makes you happy. Or is stupid.

--

_It's hot _was his first thought, which was stupid really, because he'd just blown up a building and of course it would be hot. Fire and explosions and chemicals, and smoke and heat, and _of course_ it'd be hot.

That was stupid, really.

Mello slammed his eyes shut and forced himself forward. He had to be out of that building before the Japanese Taskforce could get it together enough to stop him.

He stumbled away from his still-smoking former-hideout (the flames were minimal, he'd seen to that himself) and heard the tell-tale sirens of police cars and fire trucks and

_Ambulance _he though, which ultimately led to _hospital _and he felt a vague concern for his current lack of full sentences. A doctor could probably help with that, but he supposed he couldn't check into a hospital under "Mello" anyway. A proper alias would help, but--

Mello groaned. He was surely on a wanted list somewhere by now. They wouldn't have an actual picture, but a description and that stupid sketch that stupid Linda had given the stupid, stupid, _stupid_ taskforce would work just as well.

His head spun. He couldn't think about this now, he could hardly think at all. He needed someone to think for him maybe. He needed…

_Matt_ and that thought cut clearly through his hazy mind. He needed Matt.

Mello dug out his cell phone (blessedly intact) and hit speed-dial three. Listened to the ring-ring-ring, and thought that ringtone was much too standard for his goggle-wearing best friend. He'd have guessed Matt would use the Super Mario Bros theme or something, like all good dorks do.

Ring-ring-ring, as Mello sunk to the ground. He was starting to get a terrible headache, and if Matt didn't answer his phone _right then_, Mello thought he might not be conscious when the idiot did.

Ring-ring-ring, and Mello wasn't sure when he'd lain down, but he knew he couldn't get up again.

Ring-ring-ring, and it was just making his headache _so much worse_. Mello thought he really might prefer one of those damn video game tunes he'd always complained about when the redhead was around…

Ring-ring-ring, and with a soft _click_ Matt finally answered the phone, already jabbering about how he'd lost his cell, and then he'd gone and _dropped it_ like an _idiot_ and wasn't that _so funny, Mello?_

The redhead finally paused long enough to realize there was no answer and after shouting at his friend for a bit, Matt started to think maybe he should just trace the phone and find out exactly what Mello had gotten into this time.

--

Matt set out as soon as he had a destination, not even pausing to save the game he'd been playing. Hell, he couldn't even think of which game he'd been playing.

Maybe he was going crazy, or dreaming, or something, and this wasn't really happening at all. He might actually be sort of mad if that were the case though. If he was going through all this trouble something bad should be happening, really.

When Matt found Mello, he changed his mind. He'd much rather be going crazy, or dreaming or something.

Because Mello was a burnt-up _mess_, and most definitely unconscious, neither of which were particularly good things, in Matt's mind at least. He supposed it could be worse, and he could be looking at the positive or something, but there wasn't really time for that right now. So instead he picked Mello up as best he could without hurting him (hopefully- it was hard to tell, with the blonde unconscious and all) and brought him to the car.

Matt hissed as he tried to open the door while holding Mello up, which turned out to be quite a challenge, but once the blonde was laying securely in the backseat, Matt hurried to the front of his shiny red Camaro. He loved his damn car, and now Mello was bleeding all over it.

…the fact that he was freaking out probably made up for the rather insensitive thought, but maybe forgetting he'd thought it at all was a better idea than justifying it.

He'd think about that later. It was hard to tell right now, with the freaking out and all.

Matt broke a few speed limits on the way home, but he hardly even noticed, much less cared. Speeding be damned, what the hell did he do if Mello died?

The ride was nerve-wracking, but fairly quick anyway. Matt didn't live all that far from Mello's base, because the blonde had incredible luck, though a fair amount of it was bad. This was one of those good-luck-bad-luck times, he supposed. Like good-cop-bad-cop thing, but with luck…

…except that analogy might not make sense. He _was_ freaking out, after all.

Finally reaching his apartment building, Matt pulled Mello out of his car and started up the stairs, silently thanking whoever it was up there that it was getting late and his neighborhood wasn't really all that good, so the only people out didn't question him caring a half-burnt blonde up to his apartment. Laying Mello on the couch, Matt grabbed a laptop. He'd need money, whatever useful medication he could get from the drugstore down the street, and any reliable information on burns he could get from the internet.

Matt sighed. He had a good amount of money in various accounts, but he wasn't sure how much he'd need or how good of an idea it was to just suddenly start pulling it up.

It was legally other people's money after all. But it was in his accounts now, and Matt had an older brother who taught him the all important lesson of "finders' keepers" which the redhead planned on staying true to.

The point, though, was that Matt had a lot of money that was technically his. More or less.

…moving on.

Medication. Mello clearly needed something, but since Matt didn't know what exactly, maybe information should take precedence.

Which led back to his laptop. He was pulling some money together, hopefully enough to get whatever he needed without causing suspicion. So he pulled up Mayoclinic, the best website for medical-related things (as far as he knew).

After gaining a rudimentary understanding of burns and what he'd need to help Mello, Matt shot up and started towards the door. He'd almost reached the kitchen when the word _MELLO_ pounded its way into his head, and he shot back to the couch.

He hovered there for a few moments, and then decided that medication was probably necessary, so he'd just have to be as quick as absolutely possible. He checked again that Mello was as okay as could be expected and ran out the door, down the stairs, and all the way to the drugstore.

Buying every burn-healing item and pain-killing pill he could afford without looking criminal, Matt got back as quickly as he could. Mello was still unconscious, so after applying all the crazy creams and bandages, the redhead got back online, wondering if it was normal that Mello wasn't awake yet.

Back to the Mayoclinic.

After nearly an hour of online research, Matt had reached a conclusion: if Mello could make it through the night, his chances of waking up and eventually returning to "relatively okay" (Mello had never really been "good," as near as Matt could tell) improved significantly. However, the longer he stayed asleep after that, the more those chances dropped again. Matt wasn't great with statistics, but he thought Mello actually had a pretty good shot, all things considered.

And once Mello was fully conscious, Matt wanted _answers_ dammit!

--

It was somewhere between 12:30, 1:00 when Matt considered sleeping, but he wasn't sure he'd be able to, and besides, what kind of best friend would he be if he wasn't there when Mello woke up?

--

It was around 2 in the morning when Matt picked up his laptop and started playing a mindless online game with no sound. He figured it might help pass the time, since he had officially looked up just about everything the internet was willing to tell him about burns and infections.

--

It was 3:27 AM when Matt realized that morning was never going to come.

--

The next time Matt looked at the clock it was 4:32 AM and the redhead supposed it was probably a good thing he'd managed some sleep. He checked on Mello again, and once he was positive the blonde was at least still breathing, he sat back down and wondered if he could sleep a little more.

It was 5:04 when Matt decided sleep was again impossible.

--

It wasn't until almost 6:30 that Mello woke up, and it wasn't until 8 that he wasn't basically delirious. It wasn't until 9:28 that Mello could stay awake long enough to give Matt some idea of what had happened, and then tell him he wanted the younger boy's help. Mello then promptly fell back asleep, leaving Matt to wonder if he was delirious again.

It was at 10:52 that Matt realized Mello was completely serious about everything.

It was at 10:54 that Matt burst out laughing, because Mello as a mob boss was just too perfect.

At 10:55 Mello smacked him, grinning, and Matt decided helping his friend out wasn't a terrible idea. Even if he was still oozing, and it was a little gross.


End file.
